


Dogs and Dating

by mitigates



Series: AU One Shots [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dogwalker Bokuto, Fluff, Hurt and comfort, I just want them to love each other, Jogger Akaashi, M/M, Slow Burn, mostly comfort, pure fluff, there's DOGS, tiny character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25204204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitigates/pseuds/mitigates
Summary: “Why don’t you want me to meet your friends?” Akaashi’s question was quiet, his face turned toward the grass they were walking on.Bokuto narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think-”“Why wouldn’t you invite me to the party?” Akaashi asked, his voice still low.Bokuto stopped walking and frowned. “You don’t like parties.”Akaashi finally lifted his face in confusion. “What makes you think that?”
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: AU One Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824652
Comments: 4
Kudos: 90





	Dogs and Dating

“Zuko- Zuko, sit! Kiba- leave it! Makoto, you’re the best girl, you’re the prettiest girl- your brothers are shits. They’re little shits, aren’t they? Aren’t they, pretty girl?” Bokuto scratched the red huskies' wiggly ears and kissed her nose. He glared at her two siblings, nearly identical black huskies, and shook his finger at them. “You two are not being ideal today.” He tightened his grip on the three leashes that their owner insisted on tying together. Thankfully, one of the three huskies was incredibly well behaved so it almost made up for the attitudes that her big dumb brothers had...almost.

Bokuto checked his watch and quickened his pace just slightly, he was nearly late because Kiba and Zuko decided they were going to start serenading the Great Dane that they walked past every single day. Bokuto was having none of that and he continued pulling them along the sidewalk. He was nearly at their house to drop them off after their daily 4-mile walk that he was paid an obscene amount of money for. It was an hour-long walk that he did each day, easily paying his rent just with that one client. He removed the key from its lockbox outside of their big beautiful house and waited at the curb for his favorite part of the day. He pretended to look at his phone, like he always did, and decided that it wasn’t obvious what he was doing. He leaned against the hood of his car, his eyes darting up every so often. When he finally caught sight of him, he froze ( _ like he always did _ ) and he  _ stared. _

Akaashi let out a deep sigh ( _ like he always did _ ) as he approached the house that was just barely out of his normal routine. He guessed it had turned into a routine because he found himself running the same route when he usually went in the opposite direction. He was drawn to the area and he liked to tell himself that he didn’t know why, but he absolutely did know why. It was that silver-haired golden-eyed guy with the huskies that lived in that house that was bigger than anything he had been in before. He assumed the other guy must live there with his parents, he was far too young to have a house like that on his own, let alone three dogs. Akaashi was 18 and he assumed the silver-haired wonder was only a couple of years older than him. He had never put himself out there like that before but he felt drawn to him otherwise, he would have changed his route months ago.

He first noticed he was being watched when they almost ran into each other. Akaashi loved dogs, he did, but three huskies at a time were  _ a lot _ of dogs, especially when one of them wanted to say hi by dive-bombing your face. The silver-haired man struggled to get them under control because he was too busy checking Akaashi out. Akaashi could tell because afterward, he started doing the same thing. The guy was gorgeous, in a striking kind of way with thick gray eyebrows that looked like they were waxed to perfection. He was taller than Akaashi by a couple of inches and way more filled out. Akaashi stuck to running rather than weight lifting. He didn’t have the softness in his body that he used to in high school and his endurance had grown exponentially. He could jog for miles without struggling, he enjoyed it. 

He rounded the corner and saw the silver-haired man leaning against his car hood. Akaashi snorted. He thought that the other was trying to make it seem like he  _ wasn’t _ watching or even  _ waiting _ for Akaashi, but he had never seen somebody so obvious before. His eyes always darted up but that time they seemed to be stuck. He was actually staring at him. Akaashi was glad he was wearing his sunglasses at that time because the silver-haired guy would  _ not _ stop staring at him.

He briefly wondered if he was going to try and talk to him and Akaashi wasn’t sure he was ready for that. Holy shit- he was. He was going to try and talk to him. Akaashi slowed slightly as the silver-haired man stepped in his path. They were far enough away that Akaashi could make the conscious decision of briefly running into the street to get around him, but he didn’t want to do that either.

Shit.

Bokuto’s eyes were wide as the jogger approached him. He was seconds away from being directly in front of him and Bokuto had no idea what he was about to do. He turned and stepped onto the sidewalk and stared at him. Bokuto first met the jogger when Kiba, Zuko, and Makoto decided they were going to introduce him. They had never taken off for a person before but they appeared to be as drawn to the gorgeous jogger as he was. Bokuto never knew what to do in situations like that one. He sucked at flirting. He sucked worse after realizing that he didn’t like girls, not as much as he liked guys anyway. Guys were much harder to read so Bokuto just let them come to him. He decided to do that with the jogger by standing in the middle of the sidewalk, a stoic blank expression on his face.

Akaashi stopped in front of him, breathing heavier than normal. He pushed his sunglasses over his eyes and the silver-haired man’s eyes somehow got wider. 

Bokuto panicked and jumped into his car.

Akaashi watched him drive away, hands on his hips, as he caught his breath.  _ What _ ?

_____

Bokuto dropped off Kiba, Zuko, and Makoto the next day. Their parents hung around more than normal so he was stuck in a conversation with them before he was able to escape. He was desperately trying to avoid the jogger. He waved goodbye to his favorite clients and closed their gate behind him just as the jogger ran past him. Bokuto felt the  _ whoosh _ of air hit him. It wasn’t a physical push but Bokuto stumbled back slightly

Akaashi stopped and pulled out his headphones The silver-haired man was now on his ass, his back pressed against his iron gate. “Are you okay?” Golden-eyes stared back at him in pure confusion. Akaashi tilted his head slightly and cleared his throat. “Are you- are you okay?”

“Hi, I’m Bokuto and I think you’re gorgeous-”

Akaashi blinked in response. 

_ Oh fucking-fuck-fucker-fucking _ \- “Shit, sorry. Shit- I mean, shoot, I didn’t mean-” Bokut started sputtering words, scratching his head as he tried to think of a way to rectify what he just said.

“I’m Akaashi.”

“Aagahshee- what a nice name!” Bokuto exclaimed, unintentionally flubbing the pronunciation. 

Akaashi simply nodded. He glanced at the house to his right. “Beautiful house.”

“Yeah! It’s gorgeous! It’s really nice. It’s super nice. The living room is huge! It’s like it's its own apartment in each room.” Bokuto made large gestures with his hands.

_ He must be a trust fund kid or something.  _ Akaashi nodded again. “My whole apartment would fit in the front yard.” Akaashi thought he muttered that to himself, but he didn’t.

Bokuto laughed loudly. “Mine too!”

Akaashi stared at him for a moment. “You don’t live here?”

Bokuto laughed again and shook his head. “No way. I just walk the dogs every day.”

“You’re a  _ dog walker _ ?”

Bokuto frowned at the way Akaashi said it. “Well- yeah.” Bokuto’s emotions always got the best of him whether he liked it or not. That was exactly why he didn’t flirt, that right there. His eyes fell to the cement at his feet as he kicked at it. “I’m just saving up money. It’s good money. It keeps me active and I don’t have a  _ real _ job right now. I finished my degree but my sister has been sick so-” Bokuto didn’t know why he was giving so much personal information to this complete stranger, but once the words started they were hard to stop.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Akaashi’s eyebrows knitted together as Bokuto’s crestfallen expression. For some reason, he badly wanted to comfort him. “I thought you lived here so I was surprised that you would be working at all. This is a nice area.”

Bokuto looked up at Akaashi and his expression lit up upon seeing Akaashi’s caring face. “Oh okay! No, I don’t live here, I just walk the dogs!”

Akaashi relaxed at how quickly Bokuto’s mood bounced back. That was something he would have to remember. 

Bokuto glanced at his watch as it vibrated. “Sorry Kaashi but I have another walk scheduled right after this. It was nice to finally meet you!” Bokuto gave him a bright smile, brighter than anything Akaashi had ever seen before, and went toward his car: a beat up little Honda. “Sorry for calling you beautiful- or cute- or gorgeous, whichever one I actually said out loud.” Bokuto mumbled the last bit, but Akaashi heard it quite clearly.

Akaashi had a small smile on his face as he watched Bokuto pull away. What an interesting guy.

____

Bokuto and Akaashi continued with their short conversations. Akaashi found it in himself to run 7 days a week simply so he would be able to see Bokuto, even for just a few minutes. Their unions became a nice routine that they each looked forward to. Their conversations became longer and longer, Bokuto even joined Akaashi to finish his run after one of his walks. They had complete opposite personalities for the most part but they complimented each other perfectly. Bokuto was a bit bombastic and boisterous while Akaashi was more reserved and concise.

Bokuto liked to bring Akaashi books to read because he “had the feeling Kaashi was a reader”. Akaashi bought Bokuto a white fanny pack that had owls on it after seeing the sad state the bag Bokuto carried was in. Bokuto had everything he needed in there for his dog walks (wipes, poop bags, paw balm, slip leashes, first aid kit, air horn, even citronella spray) but the bag was falling apart. Bokuto’s eyes lit up when he saw the gift.

“Kaashi- you shouldn’t have! Kaashi thank you so much, this is the best present I’ve ever gotten! Agh! Kaashi! I’m going to transfer the stuff over now-” Bokuto bounded back to his card and grabbed his old bag. He sprawled out onto the grass next to Akaashi and started moving all of his stuff into the new fanny pack. 

Akaashi just smiled and watched him. Bokuto talked the entire time, but Akaashi couldn’t tell you what he said. He could tell you that Bokuto’s hands were strong and so much softer that he thought they would be (he figured that out when Bokuto insisted on holding Akaashi’s hand when they jaywalked across a busy intersection). He could tell you that Bokuto’s eyes lit up when he talked about all the things he enjoyed that he wanted to show Akaashi (one in particular was an all-you-can-eat Yakiniku restaurant where Akaashi watched Bokuto eat more than any person ever should, they were both in tears laughing by the end of it).

Akaashi found Bokuto easy to read except when it came to him, which frustrated Akaashi quite a bit. They were out walking Kiba, Zuko, and Makoto one day when Bokuto let out a frustrated groan. 

“What’s wrong, Bokuto?” Akaashi prodded.

“My friend Kuroo keeps texting me about this party tonight. I don’t really want to go. I just want to hang out with you.”

Akaashi’s face flushed, thankfully Bokuto was too focused on his phone. He was a tiny bit hurt that Bokuto didn’t seem to want to invite him to the party, but he wouldn’t want to go anyway. Akaashi frowned a little and walked in silence.

Bokuto furiously texted Kuroo back. He also frowned when he saw Akaashi’s expression out of the corner of his eye. He looked over at him. “What’s wrong Kaashi? We can still hang out, I don’t need to go.”

Akaashi felt his old insecurities trying to flare up in his chest. He let them get the best of him. “Why don’t you want me to meet your friends?” Akaashi’s question was quiet, his face turned toward the grass they were walking on.

Bokuto narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think-”

“Why wouldn’t you invite me to the party?” Akaashi asked, his voice still low.

Bokuto stopped walking and frowned. “You don’t like parties.”

Akaashi finally lifted his face in confusion. “What makes you think that?”

Bokuto stared back at Akaashi blankly. “You don’t! You told me 17 days ago that you have particular taste in music and when you’re introduced incessantly to new music, it can stress you out. You also said you aren’t a big fan of heights and Kuroo’s apartment is on the 24th floor. You are really environmentally friendly, remember 3 weeks ago when you picked up that water bottle and carried it with you for a mile just to find a recycling bin? Kuroo is cheap and he uses those red party cups. He doesn’t even reuse them-” Bokuto seemed more put off by that than Akaashi was. “-and 29 days ago you said that you have a hard time opening up and meeting new people, especially a lot of them at once. There’s always so many people at Kuroo’s parties, I didn’t even realize he had that many friends the first time I went.” Bokuto’s frown deepened when Akaashi just stared back at him. “I’m sorry, Kaashi...I didn’t think you’d wanna go.”

Bokuto had an inane talent for sounding  _ so goddamn sad _ and actually meaning it. Akaashi’s mouth fell open slightly. “You remembered all that about me?”

Bokuto grinned. “Of course I did, Kaashi. I like you.” 

“You  _ like _ me?” Akaashi repeated, dumbfounded.

Bokuto threw his free hand in the air. “Of course I do.” He hesitated for a moment before rubbing his arm self-consciously. “You-you like me too, don’t you?”

Akaashi didn’t know what to say, he simply nodded. 

Bokuto grinned wider. “Good! Kaashi, we should date. I’d be a great boyfriend. I’ve never had a boyfriend before but I would be a great one for you.”

Akaashi was once again nearly brought to his knees by Bokuto.  _ DATE _ ? Akaashi simply nodded again and now he had an impossibly loud, impossibly friendly, and impossibly perfect boyfriend.

“You’re like my Makoto, ya know! I’m definitely a Zuko...maybe Kiba sometimes too, but you’re like my Makoto.”

Akaashi watched the three dogs, amazed that he understood what Bokuto was saying. Makoto laid with her head on the ground watching her two brothers play fight on leash, trying to see which dark husky would get ahead of the other one. Makoto was a dog version of an eye-roll.

It was going so well until...it wasn’t.

Akaashi jogged his same route, he even wore the athletic pants that were spandex because he noticed how much Bokuto was eyeing them the last time he wore them. He didn’t see Bokuto on Wednesday.

He jogged the same route the next day, skipping his sunglasses but bringing Bokuto one of the juices he enjoyed the last time they hung out. He didn’t see Bokuto on Thursday.

He felt drained by Friday but he made the run anyway. He didn’t see Bokuto on Friday.

Akaashi started kicking himself for not getting Bokuto’s damn phone number. They saw each other every single day, it didn’t even cross their minds. He gave it one last shot. He didn’t see Bokuto on Saturday. He decided that the only thing he could think of doing was talking to the family that owned the huskies, they had to know what happened to him. 

Right?

He knocked on the door, feeling all kinds of self-conscious as he did, and waited. 

A younger guy answered the door, Akaashi could hear the three dogs he’d grown to love howling in the background.

“Hey, can I help you?”

Akaashi tugged on his fingers. “Hi- I apologize, my name is Akaashi-”

“Oh, yes, you’re Koutarou’s friend!”

Akaashi nodded, feeling a deep sense of both pride and longing that they knew who he was. It meant Bokuto talked about him. That was a really nice feeling. “Yes. I was wondering if you have heard from him. I haven’t seen him in a few days and I was starting to get worried. We never did get around to exchanging numbers.”

The man frowned. “He’s taking some time away to be with his family. I can pass along his number to you, I am positive he wouldn’t mind.”

Akaashi left with Bokuto’s number and a strong sense of gratitude.

He was walking up the stairs to his apartment when he heard a familiar voice. He looked up to see the man in question exiting the apartment next to his. They locked eyes and Akaashi’s face fell. Bokuto had clearly been crying, his eyes were red-rimmed and lacking their usual shine. His hair was down, which Akaashi hadn’t seen before.

“Kaashi- what are you doing here? How’d you know where I lived?”

“‘Where  _ you  _ live’?” Akaashi repeated in awe. He pointed at apartment 201. “I’m in 201.”

“What do you mean you’re in 201? 201 what?”

Akaashi continued up the stairs and stood in front of the second door on the floor. “I live in 201.”

Bokuto stared back at Akaashi. He glanced at Akaashi’s door, his door, then back at Akaashi. “Wait- what?”

“I live in 201.”

Bokuto shook his head. “No, you don’t.”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I do.”

“Since when?”

“Since...a year or so ago.”

Bokuto pointed at Akaashi’s hands that were fiddling with his keys. “Open the door.” Akaashi frowned but did as Bokuto requested. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. Bokuto stepped into the doorway and looked inside. “Huh.”

“What?” Akaashi asked as he set his keys on the hook next to the door.

“We are neighbors.”

“It looks like it.” Akaashi tried not to stare at Bokuto but he couldn’t help it. Bokuto tried to smile but without the gleam in his eyes, he just looked sadder. “Do you want to come in?”

Bokuto nodded slowly and stepped inside Akaashi’s dark apartment. Bokuto made his way to the loveseat and sat in the middle of it, leaving little space for Akaashi. He stared at his reflection in the smoothness of the TV across from him. Akaashi squeezed in next to Bokuto, the loveseat being the only furniture he ever bothered buying. It had never seemed small before, not until he had Bokuto’s bigger frame sitting on it.Their arms, thighs, and sides were touching, but Bokuto didn’t seem to mind.

They sat like that until the sun started to set. It had to have been for at least a few hours. Bokuto didn’t speak and although Akaashi found that quite unnerving, he didn’t want to interrupt whatever Bokuto was going through. He hated when people pushed their own thoughts, feelings, and agendas on him.

“Kaashi, can I ask you something?” Bokuto finally asked, the last of the sun shining on his mouth. Akaashi nodded. Bokute took another few minutes before speaking again. He turned his hands over on his thighs and studied his palms. “Do you believe in heaven?”

Akaashi scrunched up his face. He shrugged slightly. “I don’t know, Bokuto. I haven’t really put much thought into it.”

Bokuto nodded and chewed on the inside of his lip. Before he realized it, he was crying again. Hot, fat, sloppy tears began cascading down his face as he sat there silently.

Akaashi wasn’t the type to just outwardly comfort somebody, he was always unsure of his hand placement when he saw standing and second guessing where his eyes should be. Bokuto never seemed to mind it. Akaashi lost touch with every single person he met in high school, mostly because the majority of them used to make fun of him a lot. He took it with a smile because he just wanted friends. Bokuto wasn’t like that. Bokuto was unapologetically nice, going as far as to help a little kid get his frisbee out of a tree when they were walking the dogs one day. The kid didn’t even ask for help, Bokuto saw him, saw the tree, and knew it was his job to get it down. He helped an older man cross the street, he pointed out cracks in the sidewalk when they jogged so Akaashi wouldn’t trip (although Bokuto was the only one to ever trip when he was too busy staring at Akaashi to notice a curb). Akaashi listened to Bokuto sniffling and knew that he had to try. But what if it went wrong? What if that wasn’t what Bokuto wanted? What if he didn’t want Akaashi to touch him? Since Bokuto had announced that they were boyfriends, he hadn’t made a move on Akaashi, they still only held hands when they ran across the street (something they should really stop doing but Bokuto could be a bit impatient). Akaashi took in a sharp breath and slipped his arm around the bigger man’s shoulders. 

Bokuto immediately collapsed into him, his pile of gray hair falling into his face and he pushed into Akaashi’s chest. Bokuto fixed his arms around Akaashi’s waist and pressed his tears into the logo in the middle of Akaashi’s shirt. Akaashi had to hold back tears himself. He didn’t like seeing Bokuto cry. He didn’t want to see it ever again.

“Oh, Koutarou.” Akaashi whispered against his hair.

Bokuto sobbed harder until there wasn’t anything left to do but clutch Akaashi like a lifeline. Akaashi’s fingers had stilled in Bokuto’s hair a while ago, he let his cheek rest against Bokuto’s ungelled hair. 

“My sister died.” Bokuto whispered the words, letting them hang in the air.

“I’m sorry, Koutarou.” Akaashi held onto Bokuto as tight as he could. “I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t unexpected, you know? She had cancer since she was a little kid, I knew it was going to happen but...at the same time I didn’t.” Bokuto talked for the sake of talking.

Akaashi adjusted himself slightly and brought Bokuto’s face up. His heart felt weak at the sight of his beautiful boyfriend struggling to wet his now dry eye, but his tears were all used up. “I would like to think that we go somewhere like heaven after we die. Somewhere where we are always happy. Somewhere where we have everything we could ever want.”

Bokuto frowned slightly in confusion.

“No?” Akaashi asked as he bit his lip, knowing he said the wrong thing.

“That sounds great, Kaashi, it sounds like what it’s like when I’m with you. Ya know? Somewhere I’m always happy and I have everything I could ever want.” Bokuto said that like it was the easiest confession to give somebody in the world.

Akaashi had to blink rapidly to stop himself from turning into a pile of absolute mush. He forced a smile and ran his slender fingers along Bokuto’s jaw.

“Are you going to kiss me? Because I would really like that-”

_ Of course I’m going to kiss you _ .


End file.
